Prewriting: Organizing Your Thoughts/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim & Moby. Tim and Moby are in a classroom. Tim is standing in front of a chalkboard trying to fill in a word web diagram. TIM: Okay, so what's our topic? MOBY: Beep! TIM: Robots, right. Tim writes "ROBOTS" in the center circle on the word web. MOBY: Beep! Beep! TIM: How can you need a break? We just started. (reads the letter aloud) Dear Tim and Moby, Once I've got an idea for a story, how do I get it down on paper? From Sally. Sounds like you need some help with prewriting. Moby and I are at that stage, too. We know we want to write a paper on robots, but we're not really sure what to say. Moby returns to the classroom carrying a drink with a paper umbrella in it. TIM: Are you ready now? A word web written on the chalkboard appears on the screen. The center bubble has "ROBOTS" written in it. TIM: Okay, we made this word web thing, and the way it works is that you write your topic in the middle and then start to write in subtopics that relate. A series of arrows appear on the screen that point to the center bubble on the chalkboard and the various empty bubbles around it. Moby appears on the screen sitting at a desk and drinking his beverage. Tim can be heard writing on the chalkboard in the background. TIM: Um...technology, science fiction, society, and history. Okay, so we've got some subtopics—some areas to explore in relation to robots. Let's take it further. The word web appears on the screen. The bubbles connected to the center bubble have been filled in with the following words: "Technology", "Science Fiction", "Society" and "History". The "History" bubble is shown close up. TIM: Robots have an interesting history. MOBY: Beep! Beep! TIM: Lots of people expected that they would see robots walking down the street by the year 2000, but that hasn't happened. A drawing of a man shaking hands with a robot appears. Moby frowns. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, I'm sorry, but it hasn't. Moby continues to frown and takes a sip of his drink. Tim is writing on the chalkboard. TIM: So, in history, I want to talk about robots over time and robots today. Yeah, that's a good start. A close-up appears of the word web. A subtopic bubble contains the word "History." Two bubbles extending from the "History" bubble contain the text "ROBOTS OVER TIME" and "ROBOTS TODAY". MOBY: Beep! TIM: If we fill in this whole web, we'll have plenty to talk about in our paper, and it'll be organized into topics, subtopics, and details. MOBY: Beep! TIM: There are lots of cool prewriting exercises like this word web that can help you get organized. Whether you’re creating a story or writing about a real event, it's always helpful to ask yourself who, what, when, where, and why. Who was there? What happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen? And why did it happen? A chart with the questions Tim just asked appears labeled "THE FIVE W'S". TIM: And it's much easier to write when you've got all your thoughts in sequence. Filling in something like this simple sequence chart will help you keep ideas in the right order and see how they stack up. A chart labeled "Sequence Chart" appears on the screen. It consists of seven ovals that overlap and are arranged diagonally from the upper-left corner down to the lower-right corner of the screen. The ovals are blank except for one heading in each. The oval in the upper-left corner says "First"; the next five ovals contain the heading "Next"; and the last oval in the lower-right corner contains the heading "Last". TIM: Mapping your story is always worth it. Once you've identified your setting, time, place, characters, problem, plot, and resolution, the whole story is right there in front of you. This works great when you're making up a story, but you can also use it to help make a research paper more interesting. A diagram labeled "Story Map" appears. "Setting", "Time", and "Place" are written in the upper-left corner of the diagram. In the upper-right corner are three blank boxes with the heading "Characters" above them. In the lower-left corner is a circle with the heading "Problem". In the center of the screen at the bottom is an arrow pointing from the left to the right containing the heading "Events & Plot." In the lower-right corner is a square with the heading "Resolution". TIM: The point is, it pays to plan ahead. In writing, a little organization can go a long way. Moby is erasing the word web from the chalkboard. TIM: What are you doing? MOBY: Beep! Beep! TIM: You don't feel comfortable writing about robots anymore? MOBY: Beep! TIM: It's too personal...um, okay. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts